Expansion-tank with liquid-relief.



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H. A. R. DIEIRIGH. EXPANSION TANK WITH LIQUID BELIEF.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 14, 1908.

Patented Nov. 23. 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOB JLfl Rfllletlllil/ BY Z ATTORNEYS WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES PATEN T OFFICE.

HARRY A. R. DIETRICH, OF SOUTH BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA.

EXPANSION-TANK WITH LIQUID-RELIEF.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY A. R. DIETRICH, residing at South Bethlehem, in the county of Northampton and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Pneumatic Expansion-Tank with Liquid-Relief, of which the following is a specification.

This invention, which relates generally to means for maintaining a uniform pressure and increased temperature in water circulating systems, more particularly has for its object to provide a new and improved construction of pressure holding tank without mechanically moving parts, of a simple and economical construction, that is more especially adapted for use in connection with hot water systems, by which the water pressure is maintained and equalized in such manner that a substantially uniform expansion and temperature of the water is provided for without danger of loss of the sealing liquid or the water in the system.

In its more complete nature, my invention embodies in an air storage tank with a liquid seal, means for conveniently providing different working capacities of the tank governed by the size or character of the system for which the tank may be intended and in such manner that the water can be heated to a maximum degree without generating steam and the said water pressure and temperature kept in a substantially uniform condition.

Another and important object of my in vention is the providing of a pneumatic expansion tank with a liquid relief, of such character that the tank can be charged with the liquid seal at the factory and shipped to the point of destination and held to any convenient position without danger of loss of the sealing liquid and in which, when set up for use the said liquid will gravitate to its sealing position.

IVith the above and other objects in view that will be hereinafter referred to, my invention comprehends generally, an air storage or holding tank with a liquid relief, adapted for connection with the circulating pipes of a water heating system whereby the variable expansion or height of the water caused by its varying temperatures, controls the pneumatic pressure within the tank against the water in the system.

In its more subordinate features, my invention consists in certain details of construction and novel arrangement of parts, all of which will be hereinafter fully ex- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 14, 1908.

Patented Nov. 23, 1909. Serial No. 443,532.

plained, specifically pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1, is a diagrammatic view in elevation, showing a hot water system equipped with my improvements. Fig. 2, is a vertical section of the tank, the sealing liquid being shown at a normal position. Fig. 3, is a horizontal section of the shield or cup member and the air and sealing liquid circulating pipes hereinafter referred to and taken substantially on the line 3 3 on Fig. 2. Fig. I, is a vertical section of the lower part of the tank and shows the relative position of the sealing liquid the cup and the air sealing liquid pipes when abnormal water expansion is on. Fig. 5, is a detail view of a modification of my invention hereinafter referred to.

In the drawings, I have illustrated diagrammatically a hot water system, see Fig. 1 in which a represents a building, 6 a water heater which may be of any approved construction, c, the riser pipe that extends up nearly the full height of the building and connects with the several radiators d by laterals o and 6 denotes the return pipe joined by the laterals c with the radiators and which returns the water to the heater.

In applying my improvements to the or dinary run of water circulating systems, I couple the samewith the circulating pipes, preferably at some point above the uppermost set of radiators in the system, and while my improvements are practically operative by simply connecting the same with a single lead from the riser pipe, yet, for reasons hereinafter explained, I prefer to connect them with the riser and the return pipes, as clearly shown in the drawings.

My improvements comprise a tank of suitable size which is determined by the extent of system for which it may be intended, say for example, of 'a twenty gallon capacity for four hundred feet of direct radiation. The tank comprises the usual cylindrical shell 1 having top and bottom heads designated respectively 2 and 3 in the drawings, and

which are of special form and secured to the shell 1 by rivets 2 3 in the usual manner. The bottom head 3 is dished and centrally it has a pendent extension that comprises an enlarged or pot portion 30 and a restricted lower end 31, the bottom of which has a screw tap 32 normally closed by a plug 32 and through which the pot can be emptied of the sealing liquid as desired. The bottom head 3 has inlet openings :12 and 3 into one of which is threaded the pipe section m from the riser pipe and into the other is threaded the pipe section y that joins with the return pipe. This method of connecting the pipe with the water circulation I prefer, since it provides for the lowest possible seal to the tank from the water circulating pipes and at the same time provides for the utmost compressing air space above the water in the tank.

An operative connection for my improvements would be effected if the riser pipe connected with the tank only as shown in the detail view, see Fig. 5 but for reasons stated I prefer to connect with both the riser and return pipes since it also provides the free circulation of hot water and thus avoids danger of freezing of the water in the tank or in the pipes A, B and C located therein and presently referred to.

By making the bottom 3 dished as shown and described, the highest level of the sealing liquid is below the water inlet and outlets and hence the tank can be thoroughly drained, and furthermore, the sealing liquid will not be disturbed or drawn off during the usual process of emptying the tank, as the said liquid after it has once been entered into the tank can be emptied only by withdrawing the plug 32 The top head 2 has a flat crown portion 20 formed with a central aperture and on this portion 20 is mounted a supplemental vessel hereinafter termed the separating chamber 40, it having a flat base 41 secured by screws 42 to the crown portion 20 of the tank, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. The top of the chamber 40 is closed by a flat cap 43 bolted to the pot 40, and formed with a threaded aperture 43 to receive the blow off pipe 45 that extends to the outside of the building as usual.

The base member 41 of the separating chamber 40 has two threaded openings 44 and 45, into one of which, 44, is threaded the upper end of a pipe A, hereinafter termed the mercury balancing pipe that extends down through the tank 1 into the sealing pot extension 30 to a point near the plugged outlet 32. To the other aperture 45 is connected the upper end of a pipe B the lower end of which extends down into the mercury pot 30 and opens into an inverted cup shaped shield D, through which pipe A passes and to which is connected another pipe 0, presently again referred to.

B designates a pipe section screwed into the opening 45 that forms practically an extension of pipe B into the chamber 40, and to the pipe section B is secured an inverted cup 46 whose function is to intercept any rapid flow of the sealing liquid that might rise up the pipe B through disarrangement of the system and above the said cup 46 is a general bafiie plate or board 7 for positively keeping the liquid from passing ofi into the blow off 45, the said baffle plate being secured to the bridge piece secured on the under side of the cap plate across the exhaust opening 50, as clearly shown in V Fig. 2, by reference to which it will be also noticed that surrounding the said opening 50 1s a pendent annular flange 51, and surrounding the inlet and outlet openings in the bottom of the tank are similar flanges 52 and 53.

The object in providing the flanges or lips 51, 52 and 53 is to prevent the loss of the sealing liquid from the tank during shipment or handling after said sealing liquid is once filled into the tank. Further more, by providing the said internal guard lips or flanges 5152-53 the sealing liquid can be put into the tank at the place of shipment, remain in tank during the shipment and gravitate to its proper position when the tank is set up.

In assembling the several parts of the tank, the pipes B and C with the cup or shield member are relatively so arranged that the lower end of the member D is im mersed in the seal during the normal extreme variations of the height of the said seal. The shield or member D, which is in the nature of an inverted cup, extends some distance below the pipes B and 0 whose lower ends are in the same horizontal plane. The air pipe C is always in open communication with the upper part or air chamber of the tank and the length of this pipe is governed by the extent of the system and the normal water expansion, but in all cases it is of such length as to exceed the normal maximum expansion of the water so that.

latter can then be used for a considerably larger system by simply adding one or more supplemental air reservoirs that couple with the top of the main tank as shown in Fig. 1, thereby allowing the expanding water to fill so much higher in the tank. This feature of my invention I deem an advantageous one, since in places where there is no provision for mounting a single large expansion tank, the smaller sized tank with the high pipe G and with supplemental air reservoirs that may be located at any suitable point, can be used.

For conveniently gaging the fluid contents of the tank and for determining the filled height of the system by the usual water gage on the generator 6, a glass gage 9 is mounted on the tank, the circulating openings in the tank walldesignated S8 also having the internal lips 8()80 forpreventing the es From the foregoing,.taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the general arrangement and operation of my system or invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art to which it appertains.

I find from experience in fitting the tank, that when the system is filling, the moment that water shows in the tank it has the full air pressure on it, that is, a pressure that the seal will hold. Now when the water is heated and begins to expand it, it rises further in the tank and the air now not being able to further compress on account of the liquid relief, the water pushes tie air out into the pipe C as the air and water pressure on the relief is sufiicient to force the level to a point below the lower end of the pipes B and C and up into the separating chamber to the exhaust.

It should be stated that in applying my tanks to a system, they are so adjusted as to size that when the system to which they are attached is filled and the water therein-is at the maximum temperature, the tank will still have approximately 50% of the internal content-s for compressed air storage, so that on the contraction of the water by cooling, there will still remain a minimum amount of air pressure. A supplemental air tank 00 may be piped up with the tank 1, when conditions require a. large air tank capacity.

By providing a seal pot of the character described and combining therewith the pipes B and C and the fitting D, ordinary expansion will displace the sealing liquid and thereby keep the normal air pressure within the tank 1 which does not begin to relieve itself until the pressure against the seal is suflicient to bring the mercury level in the shield D below the bottom of the pipes C and B when the air pressure relieves itself through the pipes C and B, it being understood that under all of the ordinary conditions of the system when at the highest normal expansion the water in the tank does not rise above the pipe C and hence the water does not enter the tubes A, B and C and by reason of there being no waste of water resulting from transit of the temperature of the water from minimum to the maximum, refilling is not necessary. Another and important advantage in the use of an expansion tank constructed as hereinbefore described and shown in the drawings is that in case the fire in the generator becomes excessive to such extent that steam is formed in such quantity as to reach the tank, ample means are provided for exhausting the steam from said tank, which is done in the manner that the air is exhausted. It should also be stated that when this occurs, the relative loss of the liquid will be small, in practice, not over six per cent., but such loss is sufiicient to create noise in the tank or system sufficient to attract attention of some one in the building, and the fire then getting proper attention will bring the expansion down sufliciently to cease the discharge from the tank.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A relief device of the class described, comprising a pair of tubes in communication with each other at their lower ends, a mercury container into which the tubes dip to seal them from each other, a liquid and air holding tank in communication with one of the said tubes and with the mercury con tainer and means for admitting fluid under pressure to the tank the bottom of said tank forming said mercury container.

2. In a water heating system, the combination with the water circulating means; of a tank having an inlet and an outlet and a mercury pot at a point below the inlet and outlet, a relief pipe that dips into the mercury pot and extends above the tank, an air exhausting pipe that extends outside the tank, another air exhausting pipe that extends up into the tank, the lower ends of the two exhausting pipes dipping into the mercury pot and in communication when the fluid pressure on the mercury forces the same below its lower ends.

3. In relief mechanism of the character described, a tank having a pendent mercury pot at one end, an inlet and an outlet for the circulating water above the pot, and internal guard lips surrounding the said inlet and outlet.

4. A pressure and relief attachment for hot water systems, including a tank having a dished bottom merging with a depending liquid seal holding well projected beneath the dished portion of the bottom of the tank and in communication with the interior of the tank, said tank having an air chamber above the liquid seal holding well.

5. A relief device to be used in water pressure systems, comprising a closed tank having an inlet and an outlet for the fluid under pressure, and a pot at the lower end for l1olding a sealing liquid, a chamber having a blow off outlet above the said tank, a pair of tubes whose lower ends are in communication and extended down into the sealing pot, one of the said tubes extending up and discharging into the chamber above the tank, the other having its upper end in communication with the air space in the tank, and a return pipe from the chamber above the tank that extends down through the tank into the sealing pot.

6. In a device of the class described, a tank having a mercury pot in the lower end and a fluid inlet and an outlet connection at a point above the mercury pot, another chamber having a blow off, a pipe depending from the latter chamber down into the mercury chamber, a pair of tubes, one of which passes from the mercury chamber and discharges into the other chamber, the other tube extending from a point above the mercury line in the mer cury chamber down into the mercury space, said end being in a plane with the lower end of the other tube and in direct communication therewith when the mercury level uncovers the lower end of both tubes.

7. A relief device for the purposes described comprising a tank in communication with a water pressure system, a chamber above the tank having a blow off, said tank having a mercury pot in its lower end, a pipe that extends from near the top of the tank into the mercury pot, another pipe that extends from the mercury pot up through the top of the tank and discharges into the cham ber, an open bottom chamber that connects the lower end of the two pipes and whose side walls extend downwardly from the said pipe ends and a mercury return from the chamber to the mercury pot.

8. A means for relieving and regulating the pressure in hot water systems, comprising the following elements in combination, a tank in communication with the hot water distributing pipes, said tank having a mercury pot in the bottom thereof, a separating chamber having a blow off mounted above the tank, a return pipe that extends from said chamber down through said tank to near the bottom of the mercury pot, two pipes that rise from the mercury pot, one of which extends and discharges into the separating chamber, the other one of which extends to near the top of the tank, an open bottom chamber in the mercury pot attached to the lower ends of the said two pipes, and deflector devices in the separating chamber over the discharge end of the pipe from the mercury pot.

9. The combination with the tank having a dished bottom, provided with circulating apertures and a pendent mercury pot and a tends from the bottom of the separating chamber down to near the bottom of the mercury pot, two pipes whose lower ends extend into the mercury pot, and open bottom chamber that connects the lower ends of the two pipes, one of the said pipes extending to near the top of the tank, the other extending above the tank and into the supplemental chamber.

10. In a pressure and relief attachment for hot water heating systems, a tank having a bottom provided with a centrally located downwardly extended liquid seal holding well, said well having an enlarged upper portion and a contracted lower portion, and said tank having an air space above the well.

11. In a pressure and relief attachment for hot water heating systems, a tank having a bottom provided with a centrally located downwardly extended liquid seal holding well, said well having an enlarged upper portion and a contracted lower portion, said tank having an air space above the well, and said contracted bottom portion having a plugged drain aperture.

12. A pressure and relief attachment for hot water systems, including a tank having a dished bottom merging with a depending liquid seal holding well projected beneath the dished portion of the bottom of the tank and in communication with the interior of the tank, said tank having an air chamber above the liquid seal holding well, and pressure relief devices within the tank and cooperating with a liquid in the liquid seal holding well.

HARRY A. R. DIETRICH. lVitnesses:

I. T. HARTZOG, MI TON LAUFER. 

